Chapter 276
Harvey had long forgotten where he had placed that scarf. But he remembered Elara once telling him that she had designed the pattern herself.
A scarf with a custom design that couldn’t be bought in stores–it had to be handmade by Elara!
Harvey first searched through their household purchase records and found that Elara had bought a large quantity of yarn.
A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips. This confirmed it–the scarf was definitely hand–knitted by Elara. Then, his gaze froze on another item in the same order: an automatic knitting machine….
That thing… She must have bought it to knit scarves, gloves, and hats for the kids, right?
Elara had made so many things for the children–there was no way she could have done it all by hand.
Harvey quickly pulled up the surveillance footage and found the moment Elara was using that very machine. She even thought the machine was too slow and modified it with a power drill.
Ten minutes later, a perfectly knitted scarf slid out from the machine. It was the exact scarf she had given him! Harvey nearly shot up from his chair. He still remembered the day Elara gave him the scarf–she had looked exhausted, even stifling a yawn
He had assumed she had stayed up late, painstakingly knitting it for him, stitch by stitch!
Harvey
instinctively tried to comfort himself–technology bad improved lives. Using an automatic knitting machine was a reasonable choice.
Then, another memory surfaced. There were times when he had brought friends over for dinner and asked Elara to cook her best homemade dishes.
She had been busy in the kitchen all afternoon preparing the meals. Those dishes were last–minute requests- some needed less salt, others required brown sugar instead of white
There was no way she could have used pre–made meals for those… right?
Harvey pulled up the kitchen surveillance footage and saw that Elara had entered the kitchen at noon that day. She sat in the sunlight, reading a book, browsing research papers and reports on her iPad, and stayed there all afternoon
It wasn’t until she received a call from the driver–informing her that Harvey and his friends would arrive in about 30 minutes–that she finally started moving
She tossed whole, unpeeled onions, garlic cloves, and carrots into a pot
Then, she threw in bone–in short ribs, chicken thighs, and whole Cornish hen.
Next, she added a whole zucchini, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Mushrooms and leafy greens immediately followed.
Harvey watched as she simply boiled the vegetables, plated them, and drizzled sauce over the top–just like that, another dish was done.
Then, she placed a steaming tray over the pot and arranged salmon fillets and slices of prosciutto on top.
Harvey saw her hacking at the com and zucchini directly inthe pot, using a mold to ensure the pieces were neat
uniform despite her rough handling
Charter 276
She pulled out the short ribs, transferred them to a cast–iron skillet, and seared them over high heat to create a charred crust.
Harvey stared in disbelief as Elara tumed a single pot into ne different dishes. Then, she poured water into pot, gave it a rinse, and carried on
One of Harvey’s friends had specifically requested beef ravioli, so Flara grabbed a pre–packaged hatch from a gourmet grocery store, tossed them into the rinsing water, and added truffle oil and cracked black pepper for flavor.
Just like that, a fusion–style black truffle beef ravioll soup was done.
Harvey finally understood. It was no wonder Elara always insisted on washing the pot herself–she didn’t want the housekeepers to realize she had made ten dishes but only washed one pot!
And what about the meals she made whenever he came home unannounced?
Harvey kept watching the footage and pieced it all together–Elara had pre–arranged his meals using frozen, pre- made dishes. And whenever she had to cook for him at the last minute, it was always a one–pot meal.
Elara was truly a master at cutting corners!
